Channel-furnace.



A. H. COWLES.

CHANNEL FURNAGE.

APPLIOATION FILED 111111.19, 1912.

Patented Oct. 8, 1912.

N wmf.

" ATTORNEY.

'ff UNTTED sTaTEs PATENT oEEIoE.

ALFRED H. COWLES, OF SEWAREN, NEW JERSEY, ASSIGNOR TO THE ELECTRICSMELT- ING 8c .ALIIUIVI'INUM, COMPANY, OF SEWAREN, NEW JERSEY..

l'. CHANNEL-EURNACE.

'Specification of Letters Patent. j Application led March 19,1912.Seria1 No. 684,835.

Patenteaoct. s, 191.2.

To all whom 'it may concern.

"Be it known that I, ALFRED H. Cowmss, a

y citizen of the United States. anda resident ,fication of Sewaren, inthe county of Middlesex'and State of New Jersey, have invented certainnew and useful Improvements in Channclg furnace.

. 1t relates particularly to ways and means 'for preventing deleteriousgases that may be formed in the upper part of the furnace frompenetrating below the car body and attacking the corrodible parts of thecars and of the furnace and vestibule.

The object of the invention is to provide.

a lfurnace in which may bc carried out my process for makinghydrochloric acid and alkali-Silico-alu1ninate, set forth in mycopending application Ser. No. 521,692, filed October 2d, 1910.*

ln carryingout my process it is necessary that the spaces above andbelow the cars, or trucks, be isolated from each other, so that theinjurious gases be kept in the upper part of the furnace, both while thecars are passing through the furnace and also while a new car is beingintroduced into the combustion chamber from the vestibule.

I`o carry out my present invention, I have devised several differentmethods, among which is the one forming the subject matter of thepresent application.

Tn the `accompanying drawings is shown, simply by way of example, and asillustraing the basic idea, means forvgenerically carrying out myinvention, and in the draw ings Figure 1 is a general elevation of achannel or tunnel furnace. showing a vestihule and an air supply; Fig. 9is a longitudinal section through the vestibule and a portion of thefurnace; l? 3 is a vertical cross-section through the furnace, along theline cava, of Fig. Q; Fig. 4 is a general lonf 5t)y gitulinal sectionthrough thefurnace, show;-

20 indicates the material composing ing baffles, air supply, etc.; Fig.5 shows they preferred form of baffles, and Fig. 6 shows the ballesattached to the moving car.

Tn the drawings: 1 is the furnacel provided with the vestibule 2; 3 arerails .on which run cars 4:; 5 is the transfer truck on. which `the cars4 are brought into thevestibule over thetracks 6; 7 are rails onthet'opf thetruck 5, on which rests the ear 4,the rails 7 being on thesaine level with the rails 3 in the furnace. Vhen the cars 4; are in thefurnace they divide it into two parts, one 8, above, the other 9, belowthe car body, and the lower part is generally provided with a car pit10; Sa, 9, and 10 are corresponding parts of the vestibule; 11 is asuction fan located at the top and near the entrance end of the furnace,for exhausting the hydrochloric acid, when my process is'used.

.12 is a blower, or equivalent'device for supplying gases, or air, underpressuretol l the portion of the furnace below. the .car body; 13 `isthe pipe supplied by the blower 12,. and it is shown as located near thecenter ofthe furnace, dividing and running to.- ward each end of thefurnace; 14. are@ bafflesl dividing the car pit into any de.l sirednumber of sections. These baffles are'r preferably .made of sheet-#metalmounted to swin as shown in Fig. 5, the lower part of the affle beingweighted, as at 15,. In Fig. 6 the' baiiies are shown as directlymounted on the car body. From the air supply pipe 13 there branch ofi'short pipes 16, which communicate with each section of the car pitformed by the baflies 14:; 17 indicates valves or other means forcontrolling the pressure of the air (or gas)` admitted totho variousparts of the car pit; 18 are the -pipes supplying the fuel, and 19 is apipe for blowing into the exit end air and steam; the charge; 21 are aseries of curtains or aiiles located in the upper part of the furnaceand fitting quite closely to the load on the car 4 forming a practicallysufficient seal Vfor the gases in that part of the furnace; 23 is thedoor leading from the vestibule into the furnace proper, and 24, a meansfor openings and closing said door.

25 are sand seals into which dip metal sheets fastened to the sides ofthe transfer truck 5.

27 indicates the sand seals located. along thesides of the furnace,sealing the car pit from the upper portion of the furnace.

The ends of the cars should be made to fit' preventing injurious gasesin the lfurnace from coming in contact with the corrodible portions ofthe furnace and the carspwhile cars are'being introduced into thevestibule or fed into the furnace.

' As an example of the use of my improve furnace, I will describe itsapplication by me to the manufacture of hydrochloric acid andalkali-silico-aluminate. y The charge mixture composed of clay, salt andcarbon, in the proportions, say of 35% to 65% clay, 30% to 50%, alkalichlorid and 3% to 10% carbon, is loaded `onto the transfer truck(resting on the car 4) and introduced into .the vestibule. The doorbetween the vestibule and the furnace being. closed, the front or outerdoor'of the vestibule is raised and the transfer truck quicklyintroduced over the track 6'. When the truck is fully within thevestibule, the front i vestibule door is closed, completely sealing thevestibule from the outer air. The door 23 is now raised and the car ispushed gradually into thefurnace by the pusher 22, forcing forward thecars already introduced and the charge mixture on which is undergoing`conversion. During the time that the door 23 remains open, thatis,during the time the car is being introduced, the curtains, orbattles, 2l, lying close about the car and its charge, prevent anynoticeable escape of gas from the portion 8 of the furnace intothevestibule, and the `baffles 14 keep at will. the gases below the carsfrom escaping into the vestibule. As the charge comes into the furnaceit is sub- ]ected tothe combustion gases and to steam and air that isblown into the furnace against the direction of movement of the cars.The chemical reaction of the conversion transforms the charge intoalkalisilico-alummate andhydrochloric acid, this latter being drawn offto an acid condensing system by the suction fan 1l. The curtains 2lprevent the escape of the acid over and around the loaded cars.l So longas this acid remains in the state of vapor and above be destroyed, if ofiron or other corrodible substances. It is to prevent this that l. havearranged along the sides of the furnace the gas supply 13, tapping offinto the spaces'between two successive baffles, and I blow through thisan aix-or gas supply, and I so regulate the pressure thereof, say by thevalves 17, that there is always a balance between the pressures aboveand below the cars, or else a slight excess pressure upward from`belowvthe cars, causing a slight leak upward, but a downward leak is to beavoided. 'f l I do not herein claim the process of Vmaking hydrochloricacid and alkali-silico-aluminate, as that forms the subject matter of mycopending application, Ser. No. 521, 692.

What I claim, is

1. A channel furnace having a combustion chamber through which trucksare adapted to be passed and means for maintaining the spaces above andbelow the trucks isolated from each other while intro .ducing a freshtruck intol the combustion chamber.

2. .A furnace of the channel type having a vestibule suitably sealedfrom the furnace proper and the outer air, said vestibulebeing providedwith rails for supporting a transfer car, rails on the upper surface of.the transfer car, a'car carried by said rails, in combination with apusher penetrating the wall of the vestibule and adapted to im'- part tothe car on the transfer car a gradual and uniform movement intoandthrough the channel furnace.

3. A. furnace of the channel type provided with a track, cars located onsaid track and dividing the furnace into twov portions, one above andone below the car bodies, means for supplying' gas to, and means forexhausting gas from the upper portion of the furnace, means for dividingthe portion of the furnace below-the cars into a series ofseparatevsections exten ding throughout the length of the furnace, a gassupply connected with each such sections, and means for separatelyregulating the` gas supply to each section,

vso as to prevent the gases from passing from the upper to the lowerportion ofthe f urnace. Y

t. In a furnace of Vtheehannel type, a track, cars running on said trackand dividing the furnace into upperv and lower por# tions, a series ofcurtains at the entrance end of the furnace, and an exhaust fan locatednear the said entrance end, in combi'- nation with means for preventinggas passlng from above to below the car bodies.

5. A channel furnace provided with a car York and State of New York this14th day track, cars resting on sind track, a car pit, a of March A. D.1912. series of movable 'baes dividing the car it ALFRED H COWLES intoseparate sections, and an adjusta. 1e 5 means of gas supply connectedwith each Witnesses:

section. FRED WHITE,

.Signed at New York in the conty of New ALBERT SfrE'rsoN.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for liive centseaoh, by addressingthe Commissioner o! Patents, Washington, D. 0.

